In the aftermath of last weekend’s draft, the Green Bay Packers look drastically different from the way they did a week ago. An influx of talent could produce new key players for the Packers’ push to get over the hump, but it also has a ripple effect on veterans, including edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr.
Cox was brought back after an injury-plagued 2025 season as an attempt to salvage their depth following the Rashan Gary trade and Kingsley Engabare's departure in free agency. With Micah Parsons potentially out for the first month of the season while recovering from a torn ACL, Cox could have seen significant playing time to begin the year, which could have kept him in the rotation when he returned.
But the addition of Dani Dennis-Sutton added another talented rusher into the room. With more young talent in the building, it could put a spotlight on Cox as he looks to earn his roster spot for the upcoming season.
Brenton Cox Jr. Suddenly on Thin Ice with Packers After NFL Draft
Based on his 2024 performance, the Packers had good reason to bring Cox back this offseason. While he played seven games, he logged four sacks and 18 total pressures on 112 pass-rushing snaps according to Pro Football Focus. The small sample helped him earn a spot on the 2025 roster, but a groin injury in Week 1 sidelined him until a Week 16 loss to the Chicago Bears, and he finished with six pressures on 51 pass-rushing snaps.
While Cox has mixed production due to those injuries, he hasn’t been able to stay on the field long enough to tie it together. That was reflected in his contract for the upcoming season, a one-year, $1.4 million deal. Despite his tenure in Green Bay, that contract makes it clear that another standout pass-rusher outperforming him during the offseason program and training camp could, and likely would, cost him his job.
Parsons and Van Ness are locked in as starters when healthy, but Dennis-Sutton could have a rotational role early, as some projected him as a second-round pick. If the rookie outperforms Cox, he still might be safe. But the Packers have spoken highly of sophomore duo Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver, and either could leap Cox on the depth chart if he doesn’t come to camp ready to go.
It may be an unlikely scenario, but the Packers would only eat $250,000 in dead money if they needed to cut Cox before the season, per Over The Cap. That means if there is a tie, the Packers would probably keep a younger, cheaper player to develop over Cox, leave the veteran scrambling for a new team in late August.
Cox is in a different place than he found himself at the beginning of last season, bringing the defender to an important crossroads after the Packers added another talent to the edge-rusher room during last weekend’s draft.
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